Corpse Party: Dead Roses
by IchigoHatake
Summary: Ichigo just wanted to know who her real friends were. She could have never imagined the consequences of performing the "Sachiko Ever After" ritual. Now, trapped within Heavenly Host Elementary, she realizes the error of her actions. And with death waiting around every corner, how many of her friends' deaths will Ichigo witness? And is she strong enough to live herself? OCs. Review!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: Accusations PART 1: The Ritual

Ichigo's P.O.V.

My name is Ichigo Hatake. I'm 16 years old and I go to Hakumei High School. Hakumei can mean either "twilight" or "short-lived" depending on its spelling, and something about that name has always unsettled me, as if our sad fate had been determined from the start...

Anyway, as far as appearances, I suppose I'm your average high school girl. I have semi-bright red hair that extends a bit past my shoulders. My eyes are a bright, beautiful pink. People say my unusual eye color really sets me apart from others. I wear the usual school uniform, a sort of sailor fuku uniform. There's a red bow on the front and the sleeves are red too. We have ruffly red mini-skirts and have to wear knee-high socks and flat black shoes. Any part of the uniform that isn't red is a dark, kind of ominous, black color. Depending on who wears it, it usually looks cute. As for more on my physical appearance, I'd say my height is average, but leaning more towards the short side and my weight is also average. As for my bust...is that part really necessary? I'd like to call them average too...anyway, as far as appearance goes, I'm average, average, average, but my personality is a bit weird.

When I'm around my friends, I'll do anything to make them laugh. I'm happiest when my friends are happiest. Though, many people call me and idiot and a dumbass. I shake it off though as long as everyone is still smiling at me. I'm a bit absent-minded and end up day-dreaming a lot. My constant day-dreaming leads to some great story ideas, which is awesome since I want to grow up to be a writer, but I sometimes zone out during class lessons, which really doesn't help. My weakest subject is math and my strongest subject is English. I can be kind of lazy about my homework sometimes, but I have good friends who will usually help me out. And although I feel very attached to my friends, I always worry about what they think of me. They don't usually come to me with their problems or trust me with their secrets, which makes me feel virtually useless. And whenever I have a problem, only certain friends will listen. Altogether, I'm a very sensitive and a very complicated person. Many of my personality traits constantly contradict each other and sometimes I feel like no one truly understands me. But I still keep on fighting! Well, that's basically all about me.

Today, I was giddy with excitement because I had found something really interesting online that I had wanted to try out with my friends. On Naho Saenoki's website, there was an article about something called the "Sachiko Ever After" charm. In this ritual, if correctly done, it promises that you'll be friends with the participants of the ritual forever. You use a paper doll and have everyone grab on to a piece. You chant the words, "Sachiko, we beg of you" once for every person present. Then, you all get a tight grip on the paper doll and rip it so that you all have a scrap of it. Then, the ritual is complete! But you have to make sure to protect your paper doll scrap.

I was skipping down the hallway while humming a random tune I'd come up with to express my happiness. I really hoped my friends would be willing to do this with me. I'd been worried about if they'd really thought of me as a friend, so this would be a way to determine who was lying to me and who was a true friend. I hoped that none of them were faking our relationship. I clutched the paper doll tightly in my hands, praying for the best.

The first person I saw as I walked into room 4-6 was my 2-year crush, Akako Himura. His blonde hair shone in the light and his cool green eyes peered right into my soul. He wore the usual boy outfit, a black jacket and red tie with black slacks to match. Most people steered clear of him because of his cold attitude, but I knew he was a good person inside, so I'd made it my goal to open up his heart. And so far, I'd done a great job, although I was still the only person he'd speak in full sentences to.

"What's up with the stupid grin on your face?" he questioned me. "You look like you're up to something again."

I frowned and puffed out my cheeks in anger. "What do you mean, "again?""

He didn't respond and just stared down at the paper doll in my hands. He snatched at it and easily stole it away. I jumped to grab it, but he held it up out of my reach.

"Curse you for being taller!" I screamed at him. I continuously jumped in a vain attempt at getting it back. "Come on! Give it back to me!"

Akako's eyes widened in confusion as someone ripped the doll from his hands. He turned around to face the culprit. It was my friend Atsushi Asahi. He was about as tall as Akako, so he was easily able to retrieve my paper charm. He wore glasses, but he wasn't nerdy at all. He was just the opposite. His grades were less than extraordinary. He relied more on his strength. He had a buzz cut, but his hair was starting to grow back, revealing its medium brown color. His eyes seemed dark, like a grey color, but he could actually be very gentle when he wished. He was one of my few friends who really assisted me in solving my problems. His dream was to enter the military, so many people think he has a hard heart similar to Akako, but he's actually very protective and kind to his friends.

He handed me back the paper doll with a slight smile. "Be careful not to let him take that again."

I nodded and smiled in thanks. He then turned to face Akako. "And you shouldn't take what isn't yours."

Akako glared and turned his back on Atsushi with an angry, "tch!" Atsushi just rolled his eyes and sat down at his desk, not really doing anything in particular. He'd usually just sit quietly before class...or do something stupid with one of his friends, like trying to launch a pencil and then stabbing himself. I understood that he didn't mind pain, but sometimes he almost seemed masochistic.

Soon enough, seeing that I had entered the room, all of my other friends joined me. The first to arrive was Kimiko Miya. I consider her to be my best friend, but she's extremely vain and sometimes hurts me without realizing it. And since we haven't known each other as long as she's known her other friends, she doesn't really like it when I touch her. That's what I want to believe anyway.

She says that her hair is brown, but she almost looks like a ginger. She almost always has it thrown back into a short ponytail that runs down her neck, but doesn't quite reach her shoulders. Her eyes are hazel and a set of orange glasses usually cover them. Since she dislikes her glasses though, she takes them off a lot and doesn't really take very well care of them. She's super skinny in all areas and dreams to become a dancer. She's also on the poms squad.

"What's up with that paper thing?" she asked curiously.

"You'll find out once everyone gets here," I assured her with a mischievous smile on my face. "But until then, you'll have to be patient and wait."

"I hate waiting," she whined.

Following Kimiko was my other best friend, Toshiaki Hashi. I guess you could call him my _real_ best friend since we've been together longer and I feel like he understands me more. He's gay, but I love him anyway. He's like an older brother. He's a bit dirty (I am too) and unpredictable, but I can count on him to make me smile when I'm upset. He gets picked on by people quite a bit since he's gay, so I'm always there to help him out and kick the bullies' asses!

As far as appearances go, he's on the chubby side. He has long black hair that stands up and curls over in a cool way. He has a single streak of blond mixed in. He wears big black glasses like you'd see the stereotypical smart guy to be wearing. His hazel eyes peer through the glasses always with a not-so-serious expression. He shares my dream of becoming a famous writer.

He immediately rushed to my side, grabbed on to me, and slid against me.

"Baby, grind on me~!" he sang, and I pushed him away. I wanted to scream at him, having felt embarrassed, but I couldn't help but laugh."

"You're such a dork," I said through my giggles.

"So are you," he shot back at me. "We can be dorks _together!_ Initiate the dork party!"

Yup. I have weird friends. The next friend to arrive was Shuji Mikazuki. He had jet black hair and big brown eyes that you could melt into. He was the peace-keeper usually, but because of his problems at home, he gets depressed a lot. No one is usually able to help him except for Kimiko. I had a crush on him at one point, but he constantly rejected me and my feelings were never able to reach him. His peace-keeping attitude led him to want to become a cop.

Kimiko immediately launched into a conversation with him and I smiled a bit. Regardless of how much Kimiko insisted that she didn't like him and whenever I asked her about having a boyfriend, she responded, "I'm good" I still thought they might make a great couple. I wondered if they'd ever realize it.

The final one of my friends to gather over with us was Sakura Ogawa. Her wavy orange hair extended halfway to her waist and she wore a red ribbon in her hair on the right side. Her eyes were a blue similar to a blueberry. She always had a cheerful attitude and loved looking up inspirational quotes online. She dreamed of becoming a speaker.

"Hey guys, gather around!" I called out, ushering for them all to come over. "I have something cool and want us to try."

"It isn't something gross, is it?" Sakura nervously asked.

I shook my head and held up the doll. "This is a doll used in the Sachiko Ever After charm. If we all do this right, we can be best friends forever. And since I love you guys so much, I wanted to try it out."

"Sounds stupid," Akako huffed, but he didn't walk away, so I figured he was going to do it with us. So far, it didn't look like anyone objected.

"How does it even work?" Shuji asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. "Seems like a normal piece of paper to me."

I cleared my throat and then explained carefully to each of them how it worked. Everyone nodded in understanding, but then Atsushi asked, "What'll happen if we screw it up?"

I took a moment to think. "Mmmm...the site didn't list what would happen if we messed up, so if that Naho girl didn't take the time to write out what would occur if we failed, it must not be anything big. Doesn't seem like there are any consequences, so are you all in?"

"Sounds like fun!" Sakura shouted in approval.

Akako just shrugged.

"Yay! Friends forever!" Toshiaki cheered with a huge smile.

"If everyone else is doing it," answered Shuji.

"Fine," said Atsushi.

"Guess I'm in too then," Kimiko agreed.

That was all of us. I must have been smiling like an idiot. This was awesome! It seemed like all my friends really did care about me after all. I waved for everybody to go out into the hall.

"Come on guys! If we do it out here, we won't disturb anyone and no one will try to mess up the ritual."

Everyone followed me without any complaints and I had them all gather in a circle. Everyone's eyes locked on me as I spoke.

"Okay, I'll say it one more time. You have to say "Sachiko, we beg of you" seven times because there are seven of us here, got it? Don't stop mid-sentence or anything and don't say it any more or any less than seven times. If you do, this will fail."

They all nodded and then we began.

"Sachiko, we beg of you."

"Sachiko, we beg of you."

"Sachiko, we beg of you."

"Sachiko, we beg of you."

"Sachiko, we beg of you."

"Sachiko, we beg of you."

"Sachiko, we beg of you."

"Everyone done now?" I asked, having just finished.

"Yeah!" everyone called out simultaneously.

"Okay then," I said, holding out the paper doll. "Now everyone grab part of the paper doll. Get a real good grip on it and make sure to rip off a piece. It needs to split into a scrap for all seven of us. Ready? And...pull!"

Each of us pulled as hard as we could and the paper ripped into seven scraps, one for each of us. They weren't exactly even, but they didn't need to be.

"The scraps are an important part of this ritual," I warned them. "So you have to keep them safe. Make sure not to lose it."

"We should say that to you," laughed Kimiko. "You lose everything you touch."

"Oh, shut up!"

Everyone erupted into laughter, but that wasn't the only eruption that would occur. Suddenly, the floor shook violently and I fell down on my knees, cutting open my skin on the splintering floorboards. I heard Sakura scream and Atsushi exclaimed, "What the hell?!" And as the floor caved in, I reached out, hoping to grab on to something, anything to keep me from falling. And while I ended up grabbing someone's hand, I inevitably ended up falling down a dark pit along with anyone else. Too shocked to see whose hand I'd clutched onto. And then, my world went black.

**I hope you got a good feel for the characters. This chapter was just for introductions after all. I still hope you enjoyed and will continue to read on. Please leave a review, I always appreciate it. Question: What do you think of the charades so far? Who do you think will die first? Who might become a traitor? What do you predict will happen later on in the story? I can't wait to see what you think! I'll try to update soon, but for now, IchigoHatake is signing off.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Accusations Part 2: Trapped

** Before we begin, I just wanted to inform you that over the course of this story, I'll be posting art for this story on my DeviantArt account. So far, I've drawn Ichigo, and I plan to do a drawing of all the characters, etc. Feel free to check it out. My DeviantArt is IchigoHatakeTorchic.**

Ichigo's P.O.V.

The first thing I did when I woke up was launch myself into a hacking fit. It felt like I'd swallowed an ant hill, minus the ants. I kept spitting and coughing until everything was out of my system. I groaned and a wave of dizziness and nausea washed over me. Taking a look around, I realized something. This definitely wasn't Hakumei High.

I tried to sit up, but I was too disoriented and something was holding me down. As the dizziness faded, a sharp, stabbing pain erupted throughout my arm. I screamed in pain and turned my head to see what had happened. A pile of debris buried my left arm from my fingertips, to my shoulder. A pool of blood was flowing out from the rubble.

I let out another agonizing cry and used my right arm to claw and dig through the debris in a vain attempt at freeing myself. I managed to move smaller rocks and splintering boards, but it was impossible to completely uncover myself. The more I laid here, the more pressure it felt like there was being put on my arm. I gritted my teeth together and whined, feeling like my bones were about to snap like twigs. More and more blood seeped out and my nose was tortured by its sickening smell. Things weren't going to be good if I stayed in this position much longer.

"HELP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, praying that, wherever I was, maybe one of my friends would be here to rescue me. Or really anyone for that matter. "MY ARM IS BEING CRUSHED! IT REALLY HURTS! PLEASE, HELP!"

I was getting panicked. This wasn't good. Whenever I got desperate like this, bad things happened. I lashed about with tears in my eyes, trying to pull my arm out. All the did was put me in a worse position. A rock stabbed into my shoulder and yelled out once more. I broke down into sobs, convinced now that no one was coming to save me. It had probably only been one or two minutes, but in this much pain, I had assumed that at the very least, a half hour had passed.

I wished that I could fall unconscious, that if I was going to die here, I wouldn't have to witness it. If I really had to die, I wanted to painlessly pass in my sleep. But God had other plans for me. A familiar voice called out to me, presumably from the hallway.

"Is that you, Ichigo?! You're hurt?!"

"Akako!" I called loudly so he could hear. I once again felt hopeful. He'd find me and save me and everything would be okay. I was going to live. "My arm is being crushed! Can you move all this shit off of me?! I'm in...a classroom, I think..."

Soon enough, there was Akako, standing in the sliding door. His eyes widened in shock as he saw me pinned to the floor.

"Holy crap! What the hell happened?" he asked me as he sprinted over.

I hissed in pain again as I moved to look up at him. "I have no clue. I was like this when I woke up. Please, just get all of this off of me! This is _really_ painful. I must have gotten thousands of splinters and these rocks are _stabbing_ into my flesh!"

Akako pulled up his jacket sleeves and immediately got to work. He grunted as he lifted a huge rock off of me. His arms shook, giving me a good idea of just how heavy that damn thing was. The pressure on my arm had dropped considerably, taking away some of the pain. He then moved several large planks. I tried not to squeak as the boards dragged against my skin, giving me a few more splinters. With the removal of a few more medium-sized rocks, I was able to dig my arm out the rest of the way.

I brought my arm against my chest and caressed it, shaking a bit in fear as I saw how stained with blood my uniform was. The outfit's dark black color made the crimson color really stand out and my stomach lurched. It took everything I had to resist the urge to puke. We both sat in silence for a while as I picked out all of the splinters I could. Some were to far below the surface of my skin though and I'd have to find some tweezers.

Akako sighed and removed his tie. He then grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me over to him.

"OW! OW! OW! What are you doing?!" I screamed.

"It'll keep bleeding if you don't wrap it up," he told me as he wrapped the tie around my arm. Since the tie was red, it was hard to tell just how much blood was soaking into it. "This will have to do until I can find you some real bandages."

I nodded and let him continue to tie it around me, knotting it twice to make sure it was secure. The look in Akako's eyes told me that something was wrong, and I wanted to know what. In fact, I had a boat-load of questions.

"Hey Akako?" I asked, my voice quiet and scared. "Just where are we?"

His eyes darkened and his face went rigid and extremely serious. He clenched his fists together so tightly that they started to shake. "Did you ever read the news about the murders that occurred at Heavenly Host Elementary?"

I took a moment to think, trying hard to remember. I read just about everything as reference material for my stories, so I'm sure I heard of this somewhere. Suddenly, it all clicked.

"Oh yeah. That was where all those kidnappings happened. The three victims were found without their tongues and their bodies were mutilated. And they were killed with a pair of scissors. Supposedly, the murderer was Yoshikazu. That Sachiko girl was the only survivor, but she was never interviewed."

Akako looked me dead in the eyes. "_This_ is Heavenly Host Elementary."

"Eeeeeh?" I cried out in disbelief. "There's no way! Wasn't the building demolished?"

"Apparently not," he answered. "Not if we're here. And judging by the look on your face, you still don't believe me. Well look at this."

He held up a "_Heavenly Post" _newspaper, telling the tale of the deaths of the kids in this school. I stared at it in shock.

"What would that be doing in here if it weren't Heavenly Host?" asked Akako. Then, his face went as pale as I've ever seen it. "And...I've encountered some corpses and ghosts here. According to all of them, this is definitely Heavenly Host Elementary. And look at the desks in this room. Aren't they oddly small?"

I hadn't really gotten a good look at my surroundings, so I spun around, analyzing everything. Akako was right. Desks that small would never seat a high schooler, unless the were below the average height and weight. Although, this place didn't feel anything like a school. The wooden floor was torn up with holes everywhere and the ceiling was caving in. The walls were cracked and the paint was so chipped away, you could barely tell that it _had_ been painted. But what scared me most of all was this feeling of paranoia. It seemed like there was someone watching us.

My eyes widened and I shook in terror. "A-Akako, you were just pulling my leg, right? There aren't really...corpse, are there? Or...ghosts?"

He gave a sympathetic look. "I didn't believe it either at first, but the more you explore the school, the more dead bodies you find. And I did encounter one or two spirits, though I didn't talk to them. And the windows and some of the doors won't open in here...we might be trapped."

I felt myself crying again. I felt like I was going insane. This had to be some crazy nightmare. Things like this don't happen in the real world. But I knew this was reality. The pain in my arm, the area surrounding me, this was all too vivid to be a dream.

"Why are we here?" I whimpered. "_How_ are we here? I don't understand this..."

"I can explain it all," a voice whispered.

I gasped and spun around to look for the source of the voice. I saw no one though. Taking a more thorough look around, I saw a female body lying under the desk. She was dead. Blood had dried around her mouth and her hair was coated in blood too. She was lying on her stomach, so it was kind of hard to tell, but it appeared that she'd been stabbed in this chest. Maggots ate at her flesh, huddled in her hollowed eyeballs, and even festered in her ears and nose.

This time, I couldn't stop myself. I vomited down a nearby hole, falling to my knees. Sweat rolled down my forehead as I continued to puke my guts out, vomiting so frequently that I could hardly breathe. Finally, it all ceased and I took long, deep breaths. Akako looked at me in both disgust and sympathy. He handed me a handkerchief and I graciously took it, wiping the chunks of food off of my mouth. In times like this, I wish I had a breath mint. The taste in my mouth was absolutely disgusting.

As I turned back to the corpse, a blue ball of energy appeared over it. It looked like some strange embodiment of a spirit you'd see in a movie.

"I know, I'm in terrible condition," the spirit spoke. "But if you'd take the time to listen to me, I could tell you what you need to know. Why you're here, what happens here, I'm willing to tell it all."

I felt a bit uneasy about listening to a spirit, but Akako didn't object, so neither did I. Seeing that we weren't going anywhere, she continued on.

"You've come to Heavenly Host Elementary as a result of performing the "Sachiko Ever After" ritual. One of you two, or if you have friends here, one of them must have messed up, chanting too few or too many times. The consequences of flubbing up the ritual is becoming trapped here forever."

Akako turned to me, hatred in his eyes. He glared at me like I've never seen him glare before. "So this is _your_ fault then! Not only did you have the idiotic idea of making us go through with that ritual, but when you were giving us instructions, you said "Sachiko, we beg of you" an extra time. It must have been you who damned us!"

I backed away as Akako came closer to me with clenched fists and a deadly expression. What was he going to do to me? Would he beat me up? Kill me? We hadn't even heard everything the spirit was saying yet! And who's to say for _sure_ that it was _my_ fault! I was just explaining everything! That wasn't part of the actual ritual!

"Akako, what are you doing?" I asked him in a panic. I pushed a desk in his way to block him from coming at me, but he quickly shoved it out of his way. "Akako, please stop! Akako!"

Something wasn't right here. The Akako I knew wouldn't hit a girl no matter how angry he was. Guys were a different story, but _never_ had he ever even _pretended_ to hit me! I doubt he'd ever had a desire to hurt me. I had a feeling that this wasn't Akako. Something must have happened to him, because a long time ago, when I was feeling down after getting shoved around by some guys, he'd promised to always protect me.

Even though my knees were knocking together and I was afraid of getting any closer to him, I knew I had to do something to help Akako. I ran at him and wrapped my arms around him, unsure of what else to do. He punched me hard, square in the face, but I didn't let go of him. In fact, I squeezed him tighter.

"You've never blamed anyone for your problems," I called as he continued to beat me. "I know this isn't you, Akako. What happened to protecting me, huh?! Are you a liar after all?! Do you hear me Akako?!"

Suddenly, just before his fist met with my face yet again, he stopped. Akako staggered backward, falling down on a desk and he blinked his eyes in confusion.

"The hell?" he muttered. He looked at me and immediately, he jumped back up to his feet. "What happened?" He brought his hands to my face and rubbed my cheeks. "What? Who did this to you? All I remember was talking to that spirit and then..."

The spirit spoke up, talking to me. "What that boy just experienced is the darkening. Dark energy can surround you and take control of you if you aren't careful. It's usually difficult to disperse, so you were lucky this time, girl. He could've really hurt you. They have no control of themselves in that state and they won't remember a thing."

"Are you saying that _I_ did this to her?" questioned Akako.

"She's right," I informed him. "You went berserk with anger, saying it was my fault we were sent here and you started beating me up. But I'm fine, really. As long as you're okay."

Akako looked regretful. His face fell into a frown and he hugged me in apology. "I'm sorry, Ichigo. The spirit's right. I really don't remember any of it."

"I'll be fine," I assured him. "The pain in my face is distracting me from the pain in my arm."

My joke didn't make him feel any better. I took a deep breath and faced the spirit again. "So if we're in here, all are other friends are in this building somewhere too? We just have to go out and find them?"

"It's not that simple," the spirit said with a sigh. "Although you are all in Heavenly Host, this place is split up into many different plains. You can sometimes hear each other or find ways to send each other messages, but if you were sent to a different vortex from your friends, it will be nearly impossible to reach them. Though, judging by the look in your eyes, you're going to give it a shot."

"Damn straight!" I agreed. "If my friends are here somewhere, it's my job to find them, no matter how dangerous this place might be."

"But it's more dangerous here than you think," she warned. "This school constantly shifts around, nothing stays the same. Locked rooms can become opened and open rooms can be locked once the school shifts. And even more dangerous are the ghosts that roam these halls. Most ghosts are vengeful and won't hesitate to kill you. It _is_ possible for them to be appeased, but if you can't accomplish that, then they will kill you. And, there's no escape to this school. Well, there actually is _one_. But I never figured it out, as you can see. All I know is those paper scraps from the ritual are important, so guard them carefully.

I reached into my bra and pulled out my scrap. I knew no one would try to take it if I hid it there. Akako stared at me in shock. "I've still got mine, so I'll be just fine."

Akako soon recovered and retrieved his from his shoe. "Yup. And let's hope our friends all have theirs too."

"Alright!" I shouted, determination flooding within me. "Our first objective is to find our friends, then find a way out of here!"

Akako shook his head. "No. Our first objective is to find an infirmary and get your wounds treated."

I scowled at him. "I'm more worried about our friends. I'll be fine. Sure, it hurts like hell, but it seems way more insignificant when I think of how my friends might be injured worse. What if one of our friends is dying and we don't reach them in time because I was only helping myself?"

"Well I refuse to go on until I know you'll heal up," he argued back. "I can't stand to see you like that, all injured. And it's partially my fault, so I insist we go and fix you up."

I let out a long sigh, knowing how stubborn he could be about these things. I was highly stubborn myself, but he was far more persistent. And if I didn't agree with him, I'd have to find my friends alone because I know he really wouldn't go anywhere until my health was secured.

"Alright, alright. We'll find an infirmary," I grumbled, pouting. "But as soon as we're done there, we _absolutely_ have to find our friends. And if they're dead when we find them, it's your fault!"

He rolled his eyes. "Just come on already. If there are any ghosts waltzing around here, we really don't want to run into them. Let's hurry out of here."

Akako grabbed hold of my hand and I started blushing like crazy. I know I shouldn't be worrying about my love life in a place like this, but it would be awesome if this experience resulted in us becoming a couple. I shook the thought out of my mind though. We really needed to speed up, because a ghost stared directly at us and let out a hiss, running at us at break-neck speed.

**Sorry to end with a cliffhanger. And there still hasn't been too much action yet. But it wouldn't be a good story if I paced it too quickly, now would it? Please review! Seeing a bunch of reviews really motivates me to update and makes me feel like writing this story is worth while! So if you can spare a few seconds to send me something like: "Please Update" or "Good story" then I'd appreciate it. Until we meet again! Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 1: Accusations Part 3: Panic

Akako saw the ghost girl at the same time I did, and we both immediately sprinted away, still holding hands. The ghost was incredibly fast though. If we couldn't pick up our pace, there was no doubt in my mind that she'd capture and kill us. My heart was pounding, my adrenaline level was rising.

She was gaining on us. The girl seemed small, just a child, yet she ran like a track star, which Akako happened to be. If Akako wasn't dragging me along at this speed, I would have been caught by the ghost long ago. However, I couldn't take this sort of exertion much longer. I was no runner.

My legs were already starting to hurt and my lungs felt like they were going to burst. I was panting heavily, while Akako looked perfectly fine. Stupid athletes...

"I can't run much longer!" I called out, my voice sounding ragged. "I think I might collapse!"

"Do you want to die today?!" he screamed back at me. "Move it or lose it! Literally! If you don't keep going, you'll lose your life for sure!"

"I know that much!" I hissed. "But even you can't run forever. Where do we go? What if a door we run to is locked? And this ghost could chase us forever! Tell me what to do, dammit!"

"You can't think of anything yourself?!"

"Sort of panicking right now! You trust a crazed woman to make a sound decision that will be the deciding factor in whether we live or die?! All I know is, we better lose her soon! Ouch...my legs feel like they're going to fall off."

He sighed and shook his head. "That's what you get for staying inside on your computer instead of getting some exercise, Ms. Computer Junkie."

"Idiot! Instead of insulting me, can't you figure out where we should go?!"

He quickly looked around as we were running, and suddenly veered right, dragging me with him. He ran straight for one of the rooms, labeled infirmary. Just where we needed to go! But would it be open?

Akako took a deep breath. "There's no way the infirmary is locked. If someone is hurt, they'd need to get in immediately. I hope that's the case, anyway..."

Akako released my hand and slid the door open. He ushered for me to go inside, so I ran right in. He came in after me and quickly shut the door.

"What about the ghost? She could still get in!" I screamed in horror.

Akako's eyes widened. "Well I don't have anything that could fend her off! But she seemed to be running behind, so we can only pray that we lost her."

After what felt like hours of standing in silence, we finally sighed in relief. It didn't seem like she'd be finding us for a long while. Noticing two beds, I quickly plopped down on the first one I saw, snuggling right in. It was actually pretty comfortable.

Akako was opening drawers, and fishing around for stuff. When he was finished collecting what he needed, he approached me. He had gauze and what looked like bottles of medicine. He also had some tubes of something. He rolled up my left sleeve, then opened up one of the tubes, and smeared some stuff on my arm that stung pretty good.

"Ouch," I growled. "What is that? It hurts!"

"Some kind of disinfectant," he responded. "You don't want your arm to get all gross with infection, do you?"

"No."

"Then enough complaining and take it like a man...woman."

I frowned, but let him finish up. "Shouldn't we have washed off all this blood before you applied all that?"

"I tried turning on the sink, but nothing came out," he replied. "Now hold out your arm, and keep it still. I'm going to wrap it up now."

I did as he instructed, and he took out the gauze and wrapped it around several times, before finally knotting it tightly around my arm. He smiled in satisfaction.

"I surprisingly didn't see any bone poking out, so your arm is just in bad shape, but not broken."

"I guess that's good news," I said. I scooted farther back into the bed, and laid down, resting my head on a pillow. "My record is still clean."

"What record?" he questioned as he sat on the bed beside me.

"I've never broken a bone before," I answered. "Not once. So I'm still good there."

He nodded. "Well, we've been through a lot. And I know how badly you want to find everyone, but wouldn't you like to rest up a bit? You look ready to fall asleep..."

I quickly sprang up, feeling horrible that I was trying to relax. "No. You're right. I wanted to search for our friends. And if there are more ghosts out there, they could get killed. There are corpses everywhere, and I don't want Kimiko and the others to become them. I can rest when they're all safe."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked, looking serious. "Pushing yourself never does any good. Haven't you realized that? You're constantly pushing yourself to the limit and you've hardly gained anything from it."

"I'm absolutely sure about this," I responded, looking him dead in the eyes. "They're your friends too. So you should also being willing to push yourself to the limit for them. And I'll go on my own if I have to."

Akako glared at me for a while, then groaned. "Stubborn. Stubborn. Stubborn. Of course I'm coming with you. You'll die for sure on your own."

"So you promise to protect me?" I asked, feeling a smile coming to my face.

"It's a promise." He extended his pinkie. "I promise to protect you until the end."

I giggled and wrapped my pinkie around his. "It's a promise then."

"Tell me if you need to rest though," he pressed on. "I know how weak you can get when your sugar level drops. And it seems like we might be trapped here for a while. So...in case you needed a boost. Um, I bought a few caramel candies I had planned to give you today as a present. There's around ten of them, so...tell me if you're feeling low."

Akako was going to give me a present? Haha, his cold shell was deteriorating. This was his true character poking through. The kind part of him I'd fallen in love with and was trying to see more of.

I must have been grinning like an idiot, because he suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Thank you. That's really thoughtful. But might I ask...hehehe...why did you feel the need to give me a present?"

He scowled again, once again hiding behind his mask. Dammit. "Tch. Well, you're always complaining that I forget your birthday and never buy you presents, so...I felt...just a little bad, okay? Just...Just drop it. We have people to find, remember?"

"Alright!" I shouted, punching the air. "Let's keep our spirits high and get moving."

My high spirits didn't last long though. Because as we started walking around, searching randomly throughout the halls, I stepped in the remains of a corpse. My smile contorted into a wide-eyed expression of sheer terror. He had been stabbed multiple times in the gut and chest, his skin torn and blood spilled out everywhere. It felt like I'd stepped in soggy bread. I clasped my hands around my mouth and backed off of the body, leaving an imprint in the shape of my foot on his stomach.

My stomach gurgled and my body started to shake. "Th-That guy wasn't here when we were running away before...D-Does that mean that...he was killed recently?"

Now more than ever, I was terrified. Knees knocking together, and vibrating like a massage chair. His blood had soaked through my shoe and straight through to my knee-high socks. It felt squishy and disgusting. I took long, deep breaths, trying to remain calm.

Akako put his hands on my shoulders and I shook him away. "I-I'll be fine. Keep m-moving. Out of sight, out of mind, right? B-But...would you mind...if we held hands? Uh...only for reassurance..."

He silently nodded and once again, he took my hand. It felt very warm and strong, compared to my small, shaking, ice-cold hands. I was still shaking, but much less now. Like I'd said, this really did give me some reassurance. I gave him a look, and without having to verbally communicate with him what-so-ever, he knew to proceed.

I tried not to think of how my friends could be in a similar state. Or worse...me.

Sakura's P.O.V.

My eyelids fluttered open and the first thing I registered was a throbbing pain in my head. I looked around me and noticed my head was leaned against a splintered door. I moved my head forward, and brought my hand to the back of my head. Some splinters had lodged their way into my scalp, and I carefully pulled them out, whimpering in pain each time.

I then started focusing in on my surroundings. There wasn't much to see, really. I was in a long hallway. Its wooden floors were falling apart, and it would be easy to fall into one of the huge holes if I wasn't careful. I looked up at the sign hanging from the door I was against. It was a classroom, but not one I'd recognize.

I propped myself up and sprang to my feet. The ground felt strange and uneven. I soon realized that it wasn't the ground that was throwing me off balance though. One of my shoes was missing. I glanced around, but it was nowhere in sight. The shift in height between my two feet was uncomfortable, so I quickly discarded my other shoe. Now all I had on were my black and red knee socks that came with our uniform.

A sudden realization hit me as I looked around again. For one thing, I had no clue where I was and didn't know how I'd even gotten here. And secondly, I was all alone. What's going on? Obviously, this isn't Hakumei, so where is it? Enter panic mode.

I let out a whimper and started hyperventilating, feeling really afraid. If I was all alone in an abandoned-looking place like this, does that mean I had been kidnapped? Is there a killer lurking in here? I was about to cry, but then I heard a voice.

"Is that you, Sakura?"

Exiting from a nearby door, I saw Atsushi. He wore the usual calm expression, appearing almost bored. I gasped when I saw that his hands were covered in blood.

"Atsushi...there's blood all over your hands. A-Are you hurt...or?"

He shook his head. "I'm not hurt. But...someone else was when I woke up. When I awakened, I was next to you and I decided to look around. And...what I found wasn't pretty. I opened up that room when I heard someone screaming. I found a girl with a knife lodged in her gut. She had other stab wounds too. I...couldn't save her. But come in here. I found something sort of interesting. And you've already seen we aren't in Hakumei anymore. This might tell us where we're at..."

I followed after him as he slid the door open and stepped inside. I froze immediately when I saw the girl he'd been talking about. She laid in a pool of her own blood, eyes rolled back into her head, her expression still showing the agony she'd been feeling as she died. I saw the stab wounds, just how deep they'd gone in. A few chunks of her flesh seemingly peeling off. My stomach gurgled, and I held my breath, tears pricking at my eyes.

I stumbled back, knocking into Atsushi, who'd just closed the door. He caught me awkwardly before helping me to stand again. I started sobbing and finally found myself able to look away.

"What happened to her?" I whispered. "Who would do such a thing? S-Someone...murdered her. Were we brought here to be killed to? AAAHHHHHH!"

I let out an ear-piercing shriek and Atsushi clasped his hand over my mouth, muffling me.

"Shhh," he hissed. "Earlier, I saw a huge man with a hammer passing by. If he finds us, we're dead. Keep it together! If you panic like this, you won't survive. You have to stay calm and collected."

"Easy for you to say, Mr. Military!" I snarled, distancing myself from him. "This must all seem kind of like _training_ to you, huh?! Well a _normal_ human being _would_ be scared!"

"I never said I wasn't scared!" he hissed, looking offended. "I'm _terrified_ actually! But you can't let that fear show. You can't give into it. Because then you won't make rational decisions and you'll damn yourself. Just take a few deep breaths, and then follow me."

I did as he instructed and took slow, deep breaths. I leaned against the wall for some support and closed my eyes, pushing the image of the girl's corpse out of my mind. I just told myself not to look at her again and to listen to what Atsushi said. I opened my eyes and nodded at him.

He nodded back and gestured for me to follow him. He walked along the wall, avoiding desks. It looked like he was making his way over to a glass cabinet. As we walked, I noticed how small the desk appeared. Teenagers like us would never fit in seats like that. This appeared to be an abandoned school for...little kids? I couldn't really estimate how little they'd be though.

We finally stood in front of the cabinet and he opened it up, removing two objects from it. In his hands, he held a box of matches, and what looked to be an old newspaper.

"Hold onto this," he said, placing the matchbox in my hand. I tucked the matches away in one of my back pockets. Yup. Our skirts had pockets on their _back_. Made me wonder what pervert designed the uniforms anyway.

He shook some dust that covered the newspaper and started reading it aloud. "Heavenly Post. 'Breaking News: Serial Kidnapping Ends In Murder.' The good name of Heavenly Host Elementary School has been stained in blood today as horrific details on the recent wave of disappearances are revealed. Over the past month, numerous children have gone missing within the town, and authorities quickly turned to kidnapping as the most likely explanation. Now investigators have located the whereabouts of these children, and their findings are far worse than anyone could've anticipated. The bodies of the absconded youths were discovered within the Heavenly Host Elementary School building on September 18th, 1973 at around 7:00 PM. Authorities further revealed that a male instructor from the school was found with them, alive but near-catatonic, holding a pair of bloodied scissors. Each of the corpses appeared to have had its tongue severed and removed...mutilations far too...to describe." Atsushi squinted his eyes. "Sorry. Some of this words aren't legible."

That was fine by me. I was disturbed enough as is. "So...if that newspaper is here, does that mean we're inside Heavenly Host?"

He nodded. "I'm not sure how or why though. And if my hunch is correct, that girl won't be the only corpse we'll encounter." He threw the newspaper aside, and walked towards the door. "Sorry, Sakura, but this is goodbye. I'm going to search for some answers. And if there _are_ more dead bodies around, I'm sure, knowing your nature, that you'll only slow me down. So long..."

"Wait! Atsushi!" I called after him, but he slammed the door shut and I heard his feet clack against the floor as he ran away.

I fell to my knees, launching myself back into panic mode. I'm all alone in a murderous school and I don't know _any_ self defense. How the hell am I supposed to survive?!

"ATSUSHIIIIIIIII!"

Kimiko's P.O.V.

I sat in some sort of strange Science lab, facing Shuji and Toshiaki. All of us were thoroughly confused as to where in the world we were and how we had ended up here. All our questions would be answered, however, as a ghost girl appeared before us.

All three of us jumped when all of the sudden, a girl with blue hair appeared before us. She wore a school uniform with a jacket tied around her waist. She looked mostly human, but her eyes were like a dead fish. And she straight-up told us she was a ghost who died here.

"My name is Naho Saenoki," she greeted us. We were all still on edge. "I'm a ghost that died here in this school."

"D-Died?" Toshiaki stuttered, shivering.

"Yes," she responded plainly. "I'm a ghost. Do you know why you're here? And where you are?"

We all shook our heads in silence. I looked at the two boys, and their faces showed expressions of disbelief. I couldn't believe my eyes either. A _ghost_ was pacing in front of us?!

"You're in Heavenly Host Elementary School," she informed us, smirking a bit. "Here, ghosts lurk, and they'll try to kill whoever they see. There's no escape here. Well...there is one way. But I'm not nice enough to say where. But you can't escape through windows or doors. What brought you to this hell? I assume you must have performed the Sachiko Ever After charm I posted on my blog, yes?"

None of the guys spoke. Their faces were completely pale. If they weren't going to man up, then I'd speak. "Yeah. Ichigo showed the charm to us. She said if we did it correctly...we'd be together forever or friends forever...something along those lines."

"Naho chuckled. "So...what would happen if you failed, hm? Did she say?"

I shook my head. "She had no idea what would occur."

That made Naho chuckle even more. "Well then, if you fail, you end up trapped here in Heavenly Host, trying to survive as long as possible before being murdered or starving to death. This school is broken down into several different spaces. If you and your friends didn't all get transported into the same space, it's next to impossible to find each other. But since you've arrived here, that means one of you messed up the charm. Now think. Was it an accident? Or...would any of your so-called friends do it on purpose? Hehehe."

Naho then suddenly disappeared, leaving us to think over her words. I looked to Shuji and then to Toshiaki. They were both lost in thought. I started wondering too. Would any of them have messed it up on purpose? Thinking it would be funny?

Toshiaki was the first to speak. "I think if anyone would've messed up on purpose, it'd be Atsushi. He doesn't like me that much and he doesn't seem like the type to want to make friends."

I shook my head in disagreeance. "No. Atsushi is good friends with Ichigo, so he'd probably take it seriously. I think that Akako did it. Yeah, Ichigo has been opening him up a bit, but he's never declared anyone as his friend. He's so stoic. He probably did the charm so he wouldn't hurt Ichigo's feelings, but flubbed it up so the charm wouldn't take effect."

Toshiaki glared at me, and slammed his hands on the table. "It wasn't Akako! Take it back!"

"I won't!" I screamed back at him. "Akako is just a cold jerk! He seems like a low-life to me. Now that bastard has damned us all!"

"What do you know about Akako?! Ichigo has really opened up his heart...and every now and then I got to see his true self...and he...wouldn't do that."

"Both of you are wrong!" Shuji shouted. We both turned to face him. He stood up and started walking around. "I think it was Ichigo. Oh sure, she suggests such a nice, friendly charm to us. But maybe she had some malice behind it. She's the type to get pissed off easily, so maybe she's holding a grudge against all of us and thought that if she messed up the charm, it would break up our frienship and she wouldn't have to deal with us. But because of her screw-up, we're here now...and even if someone else messed it up, it's still her fault for making us do that charm anyway without knowing the consequences."

Toshiaki grunted in anger and scowled at Shuji with pure hatred in his eyes. He hissed at me as well. "How dare you! Both of you! Accusing the two people I cherish the most..._FUCK YOU!_ I BET ONE OF YOU TWO DID IT AND ARE BLAMING THOSE TWO SO YOU WON'T BE BLAMED! I know that neither of you like me that much...you say how I constantly annoy you...so maybe it was _you two_ who actually caused all this. Even if I'm wrong, I don't want to be around either of you any longer. I'm leaving to find Ichigo and Akako. I hope I never see your faces again!"

Toshiaki flipped us off before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Idiot," Shuji hissed. "He realizes what Naho said, right? He could get killed running off like that. Tch. What do I care? He'll get what he deserves..."

We rested in an awkward silence for a while before I finally couldn't stand it anymore. "Shuji, if we sit around doing nothing, we'll just be waiting for death to find us. So...what should we do? Try to find some way to escape? Find some of our friends? What?"

Shuji took me by surprise, grasping my hand. My instinct was to pull away, but I resisted. He smiled at me. "You...you're the only one I need. You're the only one who's ever understood me. Let's forget about the others and figure out how to leave this place. What do you say?"

I frowned. "That's...uh...sweet and all, but I don't like the thought of just abandoning everyone. What if they're in trouble? And despite your accusations, I don't think Ichigo did this and I want to find her."

Shuji sighed and took a deep breath. "You're...You're right. I'm not thinking straight. There's strength in numbers, right? So if we find everyone, we can put out heads together and find a way out of here. And then we won't have to feel guilty for leaving anyone behind..."

Shuji sighed. "Guess that means we'll have to chase after Toshiaki, huh?"

"Yeah," I also sighed. "He's annoying, yes, but you can't honestly tell me you would've feel bad if he died in here."

Shuji frowned. "I'd definitely feel bad if he died. Especially seeing as how he left us on such a sour note. I kind of want to apologize..."

"Let's get moving then. And let's try to find some water while we're at it. I'm dying of thirst."

* * *

**That's where I'll end for now. So, who do you predict will die first? I've already planned who will die and when, but I was curious to see what you readers thought. Leave it in your review. Bye for now! I'll try to update soon...**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 1: Accusations Part 5: Deadly Mistakes

Shuji's P.O.V.

*Time Skip*

My own words kept replaying in my mind. How I had told Kimiko to forget about the others and just leave with me. How I'd accused Ichigo. What's wrong with me? Ever since I woke up in this place, I've been acting like such a huge jerk. It doesn't seem like my natural self at all. It almost feels like this entire building is dripping with dark intentions and emotions. It was definitely getting to me.

The further the two of us walked through this school, the more terrified I became. Something was definitely not right with this place. The corpses could tell you that much.

At first, the bodies thrown around were a total shock. Kimiko was screaming at the top of her lungs and it took everything I had to keep it all inside. The corpses raged from total skeletons to torn flesh heaps, to recently killed and still bleeding people. We saw ten bodies at a minimum and Kimiko's eyes were open wide like she was about to go insane. After having seen the first body though and managing to calm down, she was adapting to this horrid environment, or at least pretending it was all okay. She urged me to keep going on with her until we could find at least one of or friends, or maybe even some water.

It felt like we had searched forever before we finally stopped near an art room. I tried to open the door, but it was locked.

Slightly, Kimiko pulled a key out of her pocket that we had found exploring earlier and unlocked the door. Her eyes seemed dead and lifeless. Her face was all scrunched up like she'd smelled something really bad. But then again, she _had_ smelled something bad. Those bodies were _rotting_. I'm sure the images of those dead people were burned into her mind as they were for me. She must have cried for at least an hour or two after seeing that first dead guy. It wasn't an easy thing to see, especially for a girl who wasn't training herself to view things like this like I was. If I wanted to be a cop or detective of any sort, then this was something I had to be familiar with. What a sad way to gain some practice.

Peeking into the art room, I saw no signs of anyone else, ghost or otherwise. It seems rather safe and welcoming.

"How about we rest here for a while?" I suggested, already walking inside. "I'm tired and you look like you can't go much further either."

She nodded her head weakly and followed me in. "Yeah."

Kimiko walked into the corner of the room and plopped down there, facing the wall and hugging her knees. She didn't look to be doing so well. Her facial expressions kept changing. She looked scared at first, then depressed, then angry, and another face I couldn't quite place. She then began to twitch as well, looking terrified again.

I was going to walk over and comfort her when my eyes locked onto a painting on one of the many scattered canvases in here. The painting unsettled me and I don't know why. On the canvas, a picture of a beautiful, white rose was painting perfectly. But soaking into the paper were what appeared to be fresh drops of actual, human blood. Leaning in closer, an inspecting the easel, I saw no red paint in sight. None at all. In fact, no red had seemed to be used in any of the drawings at all, which was very strange considering the place we were in. So why then? Why was there this crimson red splattered across the canvas?

Sakura's P.O.V.

I cried for a long time before realizing that, oh yeah, it doesn't help a thing. I was all alone now, yes. But that didn't mean that I had to sit around here forever, just waiting for someone to find and slaughter me. No. I had to get up and keep moving. Without Atsushi.

"Suck it up and move it," I whispered to myself, forcing myself to move. "Pull yourself together, Sakura. If you sit around doing nothing, you're going to die for sure. You may be all alone, but you can fend for yourself. Besides, the others might be around here somewhere, right? So quit wasting your precious time!"

That's right. I'm a strong, independent woman and I can do this! When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? Oh, how I love quotes.

I dusted myself off and finally left the room where Atsushi had left me. With each step, I grew less and less confident, but I kept trudging on, commanding my feet to continue moving. I had to find my friends. I had to find a way out. I had to survive.

At the thought of my friends, I sighed sadly, thinking of Ichigo. Out of everyone in the group, I cared for her the most. She had always been one of my closest friends. I'd always been really shy and I have some pretty large breasts, so I'm always either getting made fun of or being harassed by some perverts. Ichigo was the one who always boosted my confidence and fought off the pervs. I still vividly remember the day we met.

_It was in English class. We had to present the lyrical poems that we'd written verbally in front of the entire class. As I stepped up to read mine, I glanced nervously around at all of the other students. I hated the way they started at me. It made me really scared. My palms would start to get sweaty, and I'd start shaking a bit, and my words would fumble. I was far too shy for my own good and I barely whispered out that poem. _

_ As I finished, one of the boys in class snorted in disgust. "I thought you wanted to be a speaker or whatever, Sakura. If you're that freakin' quiet, you're never going to accomplish anything. You might as well give up on that dumb dream."_

_ Most people might not mind what he had said, but it had really struck me. I had been dead-set on being a speaker for so long. I loved quotes and creative writing and I'd always had a desire to help people out. Giving speeches seemed like one way for me to truly help people out. To hear him put me down like that made me feel awful to say the least. I hung my head in shame, biting my lips so I wouldn't cry. It was then that Ichigo spoke up to the boy._

_ "Shut up, Yuki," Ichigo hissed, looking genuinely angry. "At least she got up there and tried your best. You just stood up there like an idiot and made something up on the spot since you didn't do your homework like you were supposed to. A couple fumbles doesn't mean you should give up your dreams. Sure, she's shy, but that's something she can overcome if she truly enjoys speaking. Just like my writing. At first, it was awkward and way too fast-paced, but now all you clowns want to read everything I write. So just shut the hell up. You're irritating."_

_ I sat back down at my desk and starting smiling like an idiot. Ichigo glanced over at me and smiled. "Keep doing what you love. If you ever need my help, just ask. I happen to love performing and talking to people."_

_ I nodded slightly._

_ After the first incident, there was one more incident that had spurred our friendship. One day, while I was exploring around town after school all alone, two guys from school crossed my path. There was no one else around, so they went ahead and took advantage of the situation, pinning me against the wall in an alleyway._

_ "Nice boobs, huh Aoyama?" One of the men snickered._

_ "Damn," he whistled. "Never seen jugs like those before. All the other girls at school don't even begin to compare to this."_

_ I tried to defend myself, but I wasn't assertive and loud enough. "U-um...leave me alone..."_

_ "Eh? Did that bitch say something?"_

_ "Don't mind her. Get out the stuff so we can knock her out already."_

_ Knock me out?! I ducked under the guy's arms and tried to run off, but his hand gripped tightly around my wrist and he dragged me back in. "Where do you think you're going? Come and have some fun with us. That's all we want. Some fun."_

_ I was horrified. I tried to struggle, but he pushed me hard against the wall. I tried to kick him in the groin, but he moved one of his arms to grab hold of my leg and stop the kick. His friend had pulled something out of his bag and was pouring it onto a cloth. It had to be chloroform or some other potentially dangerous drug. My heart was racing and I began panicking, wondering what I should do. Try as I might, I just couldn't escape them. They were going to knock me out and do whatever they wanted with me!_

_ "Let her go!" A familiar voice shouted, firmly, but slightly nervously._

_ I turned my head and saw a red-haired silhouette out in the distance. Wearing a short maid's dress complete with ribbons, long socks, and just an overall moe air, was Ichigo. I would have exclaimed how adorable she looked, but in my situation, that wasn't the best option right now. And even though she was dressed up so cutely, she stared at the two boys as if she were going to tear out their throats. Their was something about her eyes. Her eyebrows weren't arched down in the furious way you'd see in normal people. In stead all her hatred was focused in her gaze. I could almost picture what she was imagining she would do to them. Scary._

_ The boys weren't very intimidated though. The guy with the chloroform started walking over to her. "A maid, huh? You can serve us too..."_

_ "I don't serve anyone," she hissed._

_ She then rushed at him, and pulled back her leg, thrusting into a powerful kick that landed right in their "weak spot". The boy immediately toppled over in pain. Ichigo flicked her hair out of her face and started walking towards me, focusing on the other guy now._

_ The guy raised his fists and Ichigo laughed. "You wanna play some roshambo too? Be my guest."_

_ "Snooty bitch!" The guy hissed, pulling back his fist and aiming for her face. _

_ Ichigo barely moved out of the way, and the punch colliding with her shoulder. She groaned in pain, but quickly went in for another kick, hitting the guy in the shins. He fell down to his knees, then she kicked him in the groin as she had for the other man. He then fell backward screaming like a little girl._

_ "The perverts you can find at our school," Ichigo sighed. Her annoyed look dissipated as she looked to me in concern. "Are you alright, Sakura?"_

_ "I-I'm fine," I answered, catching my breath. "You got here before they got the chance to do anything..."_

_ "That's a relief."_

_ I stared at her for a while, examining the maid outfit. "Um...what's with...that?" _

_ Ichigo blushed a bit. "How about we find a good place to talk?"_

_ "Um...but what about those guys?"_

_ "I called the police as soon as I saw them get up on you. I go this way for work, so...anyway, sorry I didn't save you faster. The police should be here any minute now."_

_ "Shouldn't we explain everything to them then?"_

_ Ichigo sighed, looking very irritated. "Right. I'll have to call in to my boss and tell her I'll be late."_

_ "So if you're wearing that outfit," I began._

_ Ichigo laughed. "I work at a maid cafe. It always looked really fun and cool, and I can use a little money, so it seemed like a logical choice. Plus, I love cosplaying and stuff. I also work at the shrine sometimes~!"_

_ We talked for a while after Ichigo had called into her work and then until the police arrived. Surprisingly, those guys stayed down on the ground the entire time. Then again, the police station was awfully close, so they arrived pretty quickly. It turned into a huge ordeal where my parents and Ichigo's got involved and we had to explain everything to them. Ichigo and I didn't talk for a long while after that and I never got to properly thank her for her help. Eventually, the boys were being put on trial, and I had decided to go to the shrine the day before. Tomorrow, I'd be speaking out against them. Ichigo might be coming to speak on my behalf as well._

_ I hadn't expected to run into her so soon though._

_ As I ascended the shrine staircase, I noticed someone up at the top. Red hair tied high into a ponytail. The usual red and white shrine maiden outfit with the socks and sandals. It was Ichigo. I then flashed back and remembered how she mentioned she worked at the shrine sometimes. She looked like a really pretty shrine maiden._

_ "Hi," I shyly greeted her as I reached the top._

_ Ichigo looked up and smiled at me. "Good afternoon. You look nervous. Are you worried about those kids' trial tomorrow?"_

_ I nodded and stared down at my feet. "I thought I'd come here and pray that things will sway in my favor."_

_ "I'm sure they will," Ichigo assured me. "The police have all the proof they need to convict him. But sometimes the opposing side gets some pretty convincing lawyers, so it's a good idea to pray anyway. Remember the rules to pray."_

_ ~Time Skip~_

_ Ichigo and I got to talking for a while, at first about the guys who tried to kidnap me, then about school, and then I started asking about her. "So, why do you work at both the maid cafe and here?"_

_ "It's partly for money," she answered with a smile. "But mostly because it looked fun. I always saw different anime characters doing this stuff, ya know? I thought I'd give it a try and I really enjoy it."_

_ "So you're interested in anime?"_

_ Ichigo's eyes immediately lit up. "Anime and manga are my life! It's romantic! It's beautiful! It's a way of life! I love it so much that people even get irritated with me when I start talking about it! I completely fangirl!"_

_ "I can see that," I said, sweat-dropping as she bounced up and down like a hyper little kid._

_ Ichigo stopped for a second and hung her head in shame. "Sorry. I'm obsessing over it again. Yeah. I'm really into it, but I also like reading normal books besides manga too. I'm a huge book worm, I love dressing up and acting, and one of my greatest passions is writing. I write everything from fanfictions to realistic fiction stories. Although, I hate fiction and historical fiction. I want to write for the rest of my life if I can. I'd like to become a writer/editor some day. It's my dream. That's why I got so worked up when Yuki was putting down your dream. I've always thought that if you really love something, you should continue to do it and get better at it, regardless of what others may think. My mom always warned me that the writing business is a tough living, but I'm determined to follow through and I hope that you will too."_

_ I sighed and stared up at the sky. "Maybe being a speaker really is impossible for me. I'm way too shy. I can barely talk to one person at a time, let alone a whole group. I'm not even sure I'll be able to speak up at the trial tomorrow. Even though I want those boys to be punished, I just..."_

_ "Think of tomorrow as practice then."_

_ I looked down and locked eyes with her. She stared back at me with a serious expression. "Huh?"_

_ "Practice makes perfect, right?" Ichigo began. "If you can learn to talk in front of people a little at a time, soon you won't be afraid of it anymore. Then you can be a speaker like you've been dreaming of, spreading joy to the world. I'm sure you'd be very inspirational."_

_ "I don't know," I breathed. I wasn't very confident in myself._

_ "You just have to imagine them all in their underwear or focus in on one particular person as you speak. And you need to be confident in yourself more than anything. I have a passion for singing, and I never would've been able to perform if I didn't believe in myself. If you really love what you're doing and think you're good at it, then it will push you to try harder. And even if others don't appreciate what you do, if you like what you do, their opinions won't matter. If you think you can be a speaker, you __**will**__ be a speaker. Don't forget, I'll be there with you tomorrow, so you can count on me to back you up."_

_ Ichigo smiled at me and I suddenly felt very reassured and a lot more confident. Knowing that I had someone who believed in me gave me an extra drive. I wanted to work harder. I wanted to use her advice and show her what In could really do. Even if it took some time to be an actual speaker, I should at least be able to present my story to the judge. Once I had that, I'd go from there._

Ichigo had always been there to help me like that. Those boys got in serious trouble after we spoke out against them, and I spoke loudly and with a fierce intensity in my voice. Ichigo continued to sort of coach me and I gradually becoming louder and slightly more outgoing. To this day, I'm still shy around knew people and camera-shy and all that, but I've become a stronger person thanks to her. Everyone around me was shocked. Even my little sister had praised me for the effort I had made.

But I realize now that I never got to properly thank Ichigo. Why? I never thanked her. Not once. I was saying it to her on the inside, with every smile I gave her, but it had never been verbalized. Even now. I want to find her and thank her for all the help. She's always been one of my best friends. I'll never forget her. Ever.

I stumbled blindly through the school's hallways, without a clue as to where I was going. It was as if some unseen force was drawing me somewhere. I soon found myself starting outside a room. I looked up at the sign by the door and saw that it was an art room. I tried to slide open the door, but it didn't budge in the slightest. It had been locked.

I have no idea why, but something was telling me to go inside of that room, so I decided to look around for a key.

With every step I took, the floorboards creaked in a rhythmic pattern. I found myself shaking more and more the closer I got to the next door over. I stopped in front of a classroom door and examined the surrounding area. I cried out in surprise and fear as blood began flowing out from the bottom of the door. I wanted to run. I _really_ wanted to run, but I heard a strange voice, the voice of a child, perhaps, telling me, "Don't leave. The key to your destiny is in here. The key. Will you come in and take the key?"

Chills ran down my spine. The voice didn't sound normal. There almost seemed to be an echo within it. The voice sounded like it belonged to a little girl. One part of me was saying that I should follow my instincts and run. The blood spilling out of the door wasn't a good omen and why was the child on the other side speaking so calmly? Doesn't she see the blood too?

The other side of me was telling me that I _absolutely needed_ to go into that art room. It was an odd desire, but I just felt the uncontrollable urge. Also, the sound of the little girl's voice comforted me. It reminded me of my little sister, Su, who was 14. We look almost exactly alike. I don't know how that little girl's voice possibly reminded me of her, but I suddenly had flashbacks of the times I spent with my sister.

_"Onee-chan, you look really pretty in your pajamas," Su complimented me as she ran into my room._

_ I was getting ready for bed and had put on my nightgown. It was a long dress with spaghetti straps. It was white, and kind of plain, but I really liked it. Su circled me for a while and gave me a thumbs-up in approval. _

_ "You look sexy. The guys at school would go crazy if they saw you in that. Heeheehee."_

_ "S-Su!" I screamed in embarrassment._

_ "Whaaaat?" she whined. "With those coconuts, any guy is bound to stare." Su placed her hands and her chest. "I wish I had boobs like that. All I have are these flat prairies."_

_ I put my hands to my face, trying to hide my blush. "Why do you always have to say things like that?"_

_ Su just laughed. "I may not be sexy, but at least I'm adorable. Just look at this face."_

_ I smiled and looked at her in her pajamas. She wore a long sleeve, black shirt with red hearts that was way too big on her. The sleeves surpassed the length of her arms and they flopped around as she spoke. She also wore a short pair of pajama shorts that matched the rest._

_ "Yeah. You're cute, Su."_

_ "Oh! Right! I had a reason for coming in here. I wanted us to take a picture together."_

_ "I refuse," I hissed immediately. "You know I hate taking pictures. No."_

_ Su whined and gave me a puppy dog face. "Please? For your adorable imouto? I don't have __**any**__ pictures of you! If you died, I wouldn't have anything to remember you by!"_

_ "I'm not going to die," I said with an eye roll. "I just...hate pictures."_

_ "I don't understand why. You're beautiful, Sakura. Just one picture? It'll get me to stop bugging, afterall."_

_ I sighed, and crossed my arms. "One picture couldn't hurt."_

_ My sister immediately set out to grab mom and she had her take our picture. We stood side by side. Su gave a big smile, and held her arm high in triumph. I nervously held my hands behind my back, giving a weak smile as I blushed a bit. Mom snapped the picture and we all gathered to see how it turned out. I frowned and moaned._

_ "I hate how I look."_

_ "You look amazing, onee-chan," Su protested. _

_ Mom nodded her head in agreement. "I can't wait to develop all the pictures on my camera~!"_

_ "Really, onee-chan, you should trust people more."_

That last phrase kept ringing in my mind. I should trust people more. Trust them more?

"I think it would be a wise decision to take the key," The girl's voice called out to me. "Just watch out for the corpse in here."

My whole body went rigid as soon as she mentioned a corpse. I was about to turn and run, when Su's voice echoed in my mind once more.

_"Really, onee-chan, you should trust people more."_

Maybe I should trust that voice. I could get the key, open up the art room, and maybe I'd find a friend inside of there. Or Atsushi. Anyone would be fine. I just wanted to find someone else in this building before I went insane.

I swung open the classroom door and walked in. I stopped as I felt something squish and ooze onto my foot. I had just stepped on the stomach of a corpse. Blood had squirted out onto my shoes and soaked into my socks. I cried out in horror and backed up, starting to pant heavily. I was hyperventilating as I stared down at the dead body. He was cut to ribbons, a bloody, chunky heap. I could barely tell that it was even a male. I was breathing so quickly that I nearly passed out.

I closed my eyes and racked my brain, trying to control my breathing before I really did pass out. Still keeping my eyes closed, I took a wide step over the body and opened my eyes, trying to ignored the squishy feeling of my shoes and socks. I looked around the classroom. There were no desks in the room. All I saw was a large chalkboard. That was all that was in here besides the...corpse. I would've walked over to the chalkboard if it weren't for the huge hole in the ground.

I quickly looked around again, looking for something that could help me cross the gap. When I found nothing, I sighed in frustration. Looking again at the chalkboard, I saw something sparkle near a pile of chalk. It looked like a key. I needed to get that key.

I decided to try something reckless. I took several steps back, then took off running, attempting to jump over the gap. I landed with a thud on the other side and growled in pain as I held my hand, which had been twisted during my landing. After a while of wallowing in the pain, I forced myself up and walked over to the pile of chalk, removing the sparkly thing from the pile of white dust. Indeed, it was the key that the voice had mentioned. Hopefully this was the art room's key. The voice had said it was the key to my destiny, and I felt destined to go to the art room.

I frowned as I examined the gap again. It almost seemed larger now somehow, and I had no desire to try jumping across it again. I had already slightly injured my hand. I searched around the other side and found a loose wooden plank. Picking it up, I decided to try stretching it across the gap. I set down the plank and positioned it correctly. It was the perfect length. I gulped as I looked down the gap, wondering how far down it'd be if I fell.

I shook the thought from my head and slowly got down on my knees and crawled onto the wood. It seemed to be sturdy enough to support me, so I continued to inch over, holding my breath the entire time. By the time I reached the other side, I was gasping for air. I caught my breath as quickly as possible and continue walking, trying to avoid stepping on the body again. I then left the classroom and walked determinedly back to the art room.

I quickly inserted the key into the key hole and spun it around. The door unlocked and I slid the door wide open. The room was rather well lit and I took a look around. There were lots of painting supplies and several easels were spread throughout the room, each one of them with a canvas with a painting resting on them. All of them were pictures of flowers, but one of them really stood out. In the middle, there was a painting of a white rose. Only, there was red paint splattered all over the canvas. I found it odd since I hadn't seen any red in any of the other drawings. In fact, as I looked at all the pallets sitting around, I saw that red wasn't even a viable option. So...why did the painting have red paint splattered on it?

I walked over and stood right in front of it, giving it a closer examination. My entire body immediately tensed up.

"Why use red paint when I can just use the blood of all the dead people here?"

That voice. I spun around and saw a little girl standing with her arms crossed behind me. Most of her face was covered by long, black hair and she wore a tattered, red dress. An evil smile was present on her face and she looked at me similar to how a predator would look at its prey.

"So you came after all," The girl laughed, walking closer and closer to me. "I'm sorry to say that that was a mistake. It's never a good idea to trust what I say. Because when I lie, it's easier for me to kill you."

"W-What?" I mumbled in confusion. The closer she got, the more steps I took back.

"My name is Sachiko. Nice to meet you, Ms. Ogawa. You see, I really like killing people and lately I've been bored since less people have been showing up. So now that you and your friends are here, I'm going to have some fun. Get creative with my killings..."

She stopped in her tracks and paused for a moment, laughing hysterically. "You want to be a speaker, right? I'll make sure that dream dies along with you."

Within the blink of an eye, Sachiko had tackled me and pinned me down. My mind was spinning and I didn't know what to do. The girl held me down with such strength. It was like she wasn't even human. I tried to struggle and get away, but she wouldn't let me move. I suddenly saw that she had a paint scraper tool in her hand. She slowly brought it to my face.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I screamed in terror.

She pried my mouth open and started laughing liked crazy. "It'll be harder to speak without teeth. And then I'll make sure to take out your tongue too. Maybe I'll even use your vocal cords to decorate the room."

She drove the scraper deep into my gums and pain shot throughout my entire mouth. I could immediately taste blood as it dripped heavily onto my tongue. I screamed out in pain and she drove it in again, managed to destroy the roots holding in my tooth. It fell onto my tongue and I quickly spat it out. Pain seered throughout my entire mouth. It was excruciating, like nothing I had ever experienced before. My mouth was burning hotter and hotter with each and every attack, my nerves shooting countless messages telling my brain that I was in pain. Pools of blood seemed to form in my mouth and I had to keep spitting it out for fear of choking.

The scraper ripped at my skin, tearing apart the inside of my mouth. A mouthful of mouth-tearing warheads could not compare to this. My eyes were popping out of my head, I couldn't stop screaming. Tears pricked at my eyes. My nails dug at the wooden floor, splintering me and shredding my nails apart. The pain in my mouth was agonizing, being completely torn apart. Sometimes, she would slowly remove the teeth, sometimes she'd be quick. It was all I could manage to keep spitting out the blood and teeth. I wanted to live. Or did I? The pain was so intense. After what felt like an eternity, the bottom half of my teeth at been removed and she plunged the scraper into the top.

My gums seemed to throb with the fast beat of my heart. I could barely think straight. I wanted to go unconscious, but my body kept me on high alert. My life seemed to flash before my eyes like they would always display in movies. I saw images of my mom, dad, sister, Atsushi, all of my friends, then Ichigo. Ichigo. I never got to thank her.

I lifted my hand to my face, and spat a handful of blood into it. It was disgusting, but this was the only way I could say it now. I reached out my arm to a part of the floor not stained by my blood, and shakily began writing.

**T..**

I felt more a more blood soak into my uniform as I spat out more and more blood. Sachiko paused for a brief second to collect all of my teeth.

**h...a...**

More pain shot throughout my body as she drove it in very hard this time, a tooth nearly choking me as it fell back into my throat. I cried out and spat it on the floor beside me. Blood coated my mouth like lipstick.

**n...k...y...**

The bow in my hair fell off as I shook my head in pain, my hair flew everywhere. I screamed again. The pain was unbearable, all the skin being torn from my mouth. It made me want to throw up, but if I did, that made make for even more liquid for me to potentially choke on.

**o...u...I...c...**

It took all the strength and determination I had to write this last dying message. The pain was paralyzing, but I pushed on. I would deeply regret it if I died without saying this in some fashion. I just hope that it would turn out legible.

**h...**

All of my teeth were gone. My tongue desperately shot around my mouth, feeling countless gaps and hanging skin. I screamed my loudest once again, my voice cracking, slowly decreasing in volume as I began to lose my voice.

"There go all the teeth," Sachiko laughed. "You look like an old woman. Now, how about that tongue."

Sachiko now raised a pair of scissors and smiled sadistically at me. I gasped.

**i...**

I heard a sickening snipping sound and my tongue fell to the back of my throat, blood pooling and choking me out. I had been halfway through writing the g, but I started violently choking, unable to spit out this endlessly flowing red substance. Pain. Pain. All I could feel was this pain as I choked, my throat burning, mouth throbbing, eyes widening. And suddenly, my entire world went black.

And all the pain dissipated.

* * *

**Not sure about you guys, but my heart is pounding and I'm sick to my stomach. I feel really evil. Well, Sakura is the first victim of Heavenly Host. Who do you think will be next? Sachiko won't stop with one, unfortunately, so be prepared for more gore. That's all for now. Bye!**

**-IchigoHatake**


End file.
